October 24, 2017

2017 Windsor International Film Festival preview

If you love Canadian documentaries, the 2017 Windsor International Film Festival is the place for you. Of the 20 identified films on the list, 9 are documentaries. As a contrast, only 4 of the films are French-Canadian.

Last year's gem is still Window Horses, which was the first film I saw in the 2016 festival. Still hoping some Americans will get a better shot at that film soon.

Speaking of Sandra Oh, the Mina Shum film Meditation Park is high on my list. You might recall many years ago, Shum did a film called Double Happiness, which starred a relatively unknown actress named Sandra Oh.

We profiled Don't Talk To Irene in our 2017 TIFF Canadian film preview. We wondered about Porcupine Lake as well and both films are on the Windsor list.

Eye on Juliet, similar to Rebelle/War Witch, is a film from Kim Nguyen that appears to have little to no visual Canadian representation. Nguyen's last film. Two Lovers and a Bear, was very sufficiently Canadian, even with an American in the male lead. That film played at Windsor in 2016.

Ashes looks to be exactly what you might think it is: a story about traveling to scatter ashes. This is a coming-of-age drama: that part you might not have expected. Stand Up Man looks to be a local film about a wannabe comedian forced to move back to his hometown of Windsor.

The Little Hours is technically a Canadian co-production in ways that aren't clear. The Jeff Baena parody of Boccaccio’s The Decameron features a lot of American actors you will recognize including Alison Brie, Kate Micucci, and Aubrey Plaza (Baena's real-life bae) as oversexed nuns along with Fred Armisen, Nick Offerman, Molly Shannon, and John C. Reilly. You should find this film more easily on the U.S. side than the Canadian side.

AshesAt Worse, We Will Marry (Et au pire, on se mariera)Birth of a FamilyC'est Le Coeur Qui Meurt En DernierDon't Talk To IreneEye On JulietIn The Name Of All CanadiansIntegral ManMeditation ParkMy Enemy, My BrotherPicture of Light (1994)Porcupine LakeRumble: The Indians Who Rocked The WorldShinersStand Up ManThe GardenerThe Little HoursThe Other Side Of November (L'autre Cote De Novembre)The Ravenous (Les Affames)Vancouver: No Fixed Address

Le cinema Quebecois

On the French-Canadian side, we will get to see the Best Canadian Feature Film from the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival — Les Affamés, the Quebecois zombie film from Robin Aubert. The new Lea Pool film — Et au pire, on se mariera — is also on the menu. Looking forward to the mother-daughter on-screen combo of Karine Vanasse and Sophie Nélisse.

L'autre Cote De Novembre is about a pair of women, one from Lebanon and one who has migrated to Canada. Looks to be a mystical film that draws parallels to these women's stories. C'est Le Coeur Qui Meurt En Dernier deals with a son trying to reconnect with his mother, who has Alzheimer's.

Hochelaga, Terre des Âmes (Hochelaga, Land of Souls) — Canada's Best Foreign Language Film entry — is not on the list. Hopefully, I can find a way to see that elsewhere. I have a streak of seeing every Canadian entry in this Oscars category since 2005.

At some point, I'd like to see either of Simon Lavoie's films: the 2017 TIFF entry The Little Girl Who Was Too Fond of Matches (La petite fille qui aimait trop les allumettes) or the 2016 TIFF Best Canadian Feature Film Those Who Make Revolution Halfway Only Dig Their Own Graves (Ceux qui font les revolutions à moitié n’ont fait que se creuser un tombeau).

Documentaries

Birth of a Family deals with a reunion many years after the Sixties Scoop, where Indigenous children were ripped from their homes and robbed of their culture. In The Name Of All Canadians is a series of 6 short documentaries tied to Canada 150. Vancouver: No Fixed Address deals with the mounting home/rent situation in Vancouver.

More personal docs include Integral Man about building an ideal house reflecting curves and music. The Gardener is about an English-style garden called Les Quatre Vents in Charlevoix, Quebec.

Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked The World reflects the little-known role of Indigenous people in rock and roll. Shiners is about people who shine shoes for a living. Picture of Light (1994) about chasing Aurora Borealis in Churchill, MB. My Enemy, My Brother deals with the Iran-Iraq War.

Missing documentaries of note include Alanis Obomsawin's Our People Will Be Healed and The Carter Effect on former Toronto Raptors star Vince Carter.